


so it's gonna be forever

by rokkuhato



Category: Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F, Fluff, Romance, aerti centric because duh, also jessie’s a little shit but we love her, sidepair zack and cloud
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:48:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24165397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rokkuhato/pseuds/rokkuhato
Summary: Tifa had always preferred working the graveyard shifts. It was easier and people tend to just come and go so it’s less interaction with the locals, which is great, ‘cause hey it means less forced smiles and less forced conversations for Tifa. They usually just get their fix of caffeine and proceed to sit quietly in the corner. Sometimes, a few students would stay in; probably to cram whatever subjects they’re currently lagging behind in until the crack of dawn. So it was fun and easy work. What’s not fun though is Jessie’s phone blasting the same damn Taylor Swift song for six days in a row.Or that mandatory Cafe/Diner AU where everyone's happy, alive, and gay.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart, Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Comments: 7
Kudos: 221





	so it's gonna be forever

Tifa had always preferred working the graveyard shifts. It was easier and people tend to just come and go so it’s less interaction with the locals, which is great, ‘cause hey it means less forced smiles and less forced conversations for Tifa. They usually just get their fix of caffeine and proceed to sit quietly in the corner. Sometimes, a few students would stay in; probably to cram whatever subjects they’re currently lagging behind in until the crack of dawn. So it was fun and easy work. What’s _not_ fun though is Jessie’s phone blasting the same damn Taylor Swift song for six days in a row.

“Again?” Tifa sighs, exasperation dripping her tone as she looks at Jessie through the window that connects the back kitchen to the front counter. Wedge was dancing with her and Biggs was using a spatula as a drumstick.

Jessie stuck her tongue out, “Oh Tifa, you know what they say,” She stops and waits for the beat to drop before she starts singing again. “ _Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate_.”

Tifa shakes her head, the fondness in her features winning over exasperation as usual. She casts a glance over to Cloud who was currently manning the register looking like he would rather be gouging his own eyeballs out than stand there. Her eyes skimmed over the small crowd they had; there are three students taking up one corner of the booth, one was scribbling furiously in her notebook while the other two were typing in their laptops. The three of them had their earphones plugged in (she likes to think it’s because of the nonstop Taylor Swift songs blasting Jessie’s phone which can be overheard through the dining area) and a middle-aged woman who was sipping her coffee silently at the other corner.

Tifa’s gaze skids over the wall clock and she counts to five seconds backwards and as if on cue, the familiar chime on the door fills her ears. And in comes Tall Handsome Drunk Guy. One of their regulars. She watches Cloud uncoils from his slouch on the counter and with a smirk on her face, she sidles up to his side, nudging him with her hips as she hands him the refill of coffee pot. Tall Handsome Drunk Guy stumbled a few steps before fumbling for the seat towards the far end corner.

“Go on, I got this.” Tifa shoos him and Cloud’s pale cheeks darkened.

“Ohh, lover boy is back.” They hear Jessie’s teasing tone behind followed by a loud snicker from Biggs.

“Shut up.” Cloud tells them flippantly, he seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then he was crossing the counter in long bold strides.

“I hope he gets his number this time.” Jessie has a forlorn look on her face as the blonde walks over to Drunk Guy.

Tifa rested her chin against a palm, watching the scene unfold before them. Cloud was pouring the guy his coffee and he smiles up at him (well as much as a drunk guy can muster up a smile) so it looks a little dopey and then Cloud was fumbling in his grip for a moment. Tifa scrunches her nose, “He can’t even ask his name.”

“Oh, he’s _hopeless_.” Jessie’s mouth hangs open almost in awe when Cloud toppled over the bottle of sugar over the guy’s coffee and Tifa had to bite back a wince at the sight. But then Drunk Guy wasn’t even deterred and he just waves Cloud off and smiles some more which just made Cloud’s blush deepen.

Biggs was full on laughing and Wedge at least had a sympathetic smile on his face. Cloud’s making his way back with a scowl when Tifa shushed them.

“Be nice.” Tifa mumbled loud enough only for the trio to hear, straightening up, she plastered on what she hopes is a convincing smile.

But then Jessie was speaking with an all too innocent expression on her face, “So Cloud did you get his name?”

Cloud frowned, settling the coffee pot in the counter. “No.”

“Hm. So,” Jessie drawls, “Does he usually take that _much_ sugar in his coffee or?”

Tifa’s eyes widened and Biggs snorts. The blonde’s blue orbs narrowed into slits, looking like he wanted to say something but decided against it. “I’m taking a break.” He scoffs finally and heads for the backdoor without saying more.

“Really?” Tifa blurts when Cloud was out of earshot but she can’t tame the amusement in her tone.

Jessie throws up her hands in mock surrender, “What?”

“You’re on bathroom duties today.”

“Hey I was bathroom duties yesterday!”

“Well, you’re bathroom duties again today.”

“That’s not fair.”

“That’s what you get for being mean.”

Wedge perks up, “I can do bathroom duties! I don’t mind!”

“No.” Tifa tells him just as Jessie exclaimed, “Yes!”

Tifa heaves a sigh, “Wedge, no.”

“Fine, but I get to play Taylor Swift for another week.” Jessie chirps with a slight spring in her step.

Tifa lets out a groan. She really should consider getting better friends.

—-

Tifa had to press the heel of her palm against her eyes to somehow lighten the impending headache threatening to bloom in her head the moment she hears Taylor Swift’s voice filling the air. She knows Jessie had already clocked in, that music usually follows her around and Tifa ought to be more grateful. This was infinitely better than when Jessie played the whole Frozen soundtrack for a _month_. But also, her impending headache might have something to do with a certain blonde. A certain blonde who’s being _moodier_ than his usual self (he’d already snapped at two customers) so she sends him on his break, the store’s reached its slow hours anyway.

Tifa tries to pretend it’s not because Tall Handsome Drunk Guy had company tonight. A pretty one at that. Distractingly pretty, actually. With her flowing brown hair and startling green eyes. Her tongue was poking out her lips as she thumbs through her phone with an adorable crease on her features. Her sundress was slightly hiked up as she’s sitting cross-legged, giving Tifa the view of the expanse of her thighs. Tifa had decided to call her Adorable Flower Girl because of the cute little flowers adorning those long brown locks.

Tall Handsome Drunk Guy was full on slumping on the table now and Tifa was sure she heard him snoring at some point. Was this her date? Because if it was, God, what a terrible shit show. She almost felt sorry for the girl. _Almost._ But then Adorable Flower Girl was looking up from her phone, staring right into scarlet orbs and Tifa kind of panics because _shit shit shit_ she saw her staring and _Oh, God_ she’s slipping out the booth and walking towards her way. Tifa mentally curses herself because she’s usually the calm and collected one. She doesn’t do flustered, dammit, so with that thought in mind, she clears her throat and does what she does best. Brace on with a fake smile.

Adorable Flower Girl stops in front of her. She tucks a lock behind her ears and green eyes seemed to search around before settling on her, “Do you work alone?”

“Oh, no. My friend’s on break.” Tifa says easily. Okay small-talk. Tifa can do small-talk. “Did you need anything?”

Flower Girl hums, placing her forearms above the counter separating her and Tifa as she leans her body forward. Tifa startled at the move, not really prepared for the girl’s sweet perfume bombarding her senses and the look of those green _green_ pools up close. “Can I use your phone?”

She says it like she’s declaring something as mundane as the weather. Almost like she knows the effect she had on Tifa but decided to be coy about it.

“What.” Tifa’s brain kind of short-circuited, only mustering one syllable dumbly.

Flower Girl pulls back and Tifa lets out a breath she didn’t even realized she was holding. She held up her phone with a sheepish grin on her face, “My phone died.” She juts a thumb over her shoulder, rolling her eyes, “And that guy over there is drunk as _fuck_ so I need to call our friend for a ride.”

“Oh, of course.” Tifa fumbled for her phone under the counter, handing it out for the girl to take. She tries not to dwell too much on the lingering touch the Adorable Flower Girl ghosted upon her fingers when she took the phone from Tifa. Flower Girl steps away from the counter for a second, speaking quietly and when she’s done, she hands Tifa’s phone back.

“Thanks, you’re a lifesaver.” She tells Tifa before whipping around to slip back in their booth. Adorable Flower Girl kicks Drunk Guy’s shin lightly with her boots to startle him awake and she must’ve done this a lot of times before as his eyes immediately flew open. He looked like he was about to protest but when he sees who it was, his features settled into a confused frown. There’s a sense of familiarity in them. They look close. Long time girlfriend probably? But this was the first time he’d bring her in the past two months he’s been coming here.

Adorable Flower Girl said something to him and recognition settled on his face and then she was helping him on his feet. Flower Girl looks back to her, giving Tifa a little smile before slipping out into the night.

And just like that, they were gone.

“Damn, I thought Cloud had it bad but you are just an entirely different case, sweetie.” Tifa jumps at Jessie’s teasing voice. She looks back to find brown eyes dancing in mirth.

“How long have you been there?”

“Long enough to see you eye-fucking that chick.”

Tifa tried to mask her blush with an intimidating scowl. “You’re gross. I wasn’t.”

“You _so_ are.”

“Say that again and you’re on bathroom duties for the rest of the month.”

Jessie’s mouth fall open, “Bitch.”

Tifa’s laugh filled the air just as Cloud walked in. Still looking like someone had killed his cat.

“Why do you look like someone killed your cat?” Jessie questions, as if reading Tifa’s mind. Her eyes flit between him and Tifa.

Tifa bites her lip, trying to tame the snort that might come out of her mouth as she shrugs, “I’m gonna take my break.” She untied her apron and throws it in Jessie’s face. Cloud settled behind the register with a loud sigh and Tifa would’ve laughed at the absurdity of it all had he not looked so actually fucking _sad._ Tifa taps his shoulders and Jessie’s loud protests were the last thing she heard before she slipped out the back door.

—-

Adorable Flower Girl and Tall Handsome Drunk Guy comes back the next night. They’ve sat on the same space they’ve been occupying yesterday, the only difference is Drunk Guy seemed to be actually, slightly, sober this time. Emphasis on the slightly. He was clutching his head and frowning. Flower Girl was talking quietly to him, she’s wearing a simple oversized green sweatshirt and jean shorts and her hair was up in a messy ponytail, as if it was thrown up in a haste. A stark contrast to the pristine girl she’d met the other night and Tifa finds the fact endearing.

The familiar ding reaches her ears, snapping her out of thoughts. Jessie hands her the fish and chips from the kitchen window as she grabs the paper attached to it to scan the barely recognizeable handwriting details of the order. _Oh._ It’s their table.

“Less ogling, more working.” Jessie teases.

“Your handwriting sucks.” Tifa fires back as a retort, not even bothering for a response as she ambled towards their booth. When she reaches them, Flower Girl stops talking.

“Fuck my head hurts.” Drunk Guy muttered under his breath. Tifa casually placed the bag on their table, and she vaguely hears the guy mumbling his thanks. She nods, turning to leave when a gentle hand enclosed around her wrist. Green eyes were staring up at her guiltily, and just as quickly, she was already pulling her hand back when it seemed like she got what she wanted. Tifa’s attention. The touch burned.

“Sorry, do you happen to have some advil with you?”

Tifa blinks. _Once. Twice._ Before she finds her voice. “Sure. Could ask the guys around.”

“Thanks, lifesaver.” Flower Girl bit her lip, Tifa’s eyes followed the movement. “I really gotta’ stop making a habit out of this.”

“What, me saving you or you constantly asking me for stuff?” Tifa fires back, nonchalance dripping her tone.

Flower Girl’s green eyes widened, a little surprised at the clapback and the satisfaction that settled inside Tifa’s chest upon igniting that reaction was priceless,

“Hm. Both.”

Tifa smirked before excusing herself. Turns out Cloud actually had one, he said it’s for his constant headaches. When she comes back, the blonde was looking at her oddly and Jessie, Biggs and Wedge were all cramped up in the little kitchen window. They looked all sorts of funny.

“Do you think they’re dating?” Jessie wonders aloud.

Biggs clucked his tongue, “Nah, they’re probably just friends.”

Wedge craned his neck, trying to see better and the playfulness in his tone was almost childlike, “Do you want me to ask them?”

“Great idea!” Jessie claps excitedly just as Biggs shrugged his shoulder.

“Better idea,” Tifa hissed through gritted teeth, “Why don’t we stop prying on people’s private lives?”

Wedged looked like a kick puppy.

“Tifa, you must be _super_ fun at parties.” Jessie musters an exaggerated pout before turning her attention to Cloud who had been silent throughout the conversation. “You okay there, buddy?”

“Fine.” He huffs out, still on his sulking mode.

“You sure?” Jessie pushes on and then she’s smiling wickedly, “Oh, I just have the perfect song for this.”

And then Taylor Swift’s intro to _You Belong With Me_ starts blasting the whole diner.

\---

Flower Girl was alone today. She figured Drunk Guy was just late. And Tifa waited, and waited and when the clock struck past two am, and still showed no traces of him showing up, Cloud grumbles, announcing that he’s taking his break. Flower Girl just sat there sipping her coffee and Tifa would vehemently deny it if you asked her but she’d literally just spent the next ten minutes watching the girl idly french braid her hair. She’s so caught up in her staring she didn’t noticed the steaming wand of their espresso machine near her skin and before she knew it, the scorching heat was searing her inner wrist. Hissing in pain, she jerks her hand back. Scarlet eyes immediately searched for the Flower Girl, hoping she hadn’t seen it, and when she sees her nose stuck in a book, Tifa heaves a sigh of relief. She grabs a band-aid from their med kit and slaps it to the new addition of her scars.

Jessie dings the bell as she pushed a basket of fries, “Fries for your girl.”

Tifa rolled her eyes (she seems to be doing that a lot lately around Jessie), not dignifying her with a retort as she grabs the pot of coffee on her way. Flower Girl still hadn’t looked up from her book, which gave Tifa an opportunity to stare some more. She’s wearing a skirt this time along with a blouse with little flowers printed on it and her brunette locks were neatly plaited in a loose braid so soft tendrils of hair were framing her face.

Tifa cleared her throat to announce her presence, so as not to startle her but Flower Girl didn’t look up. It was kind of adorable how her brows were scrunched up in concentration; she's muttering the words softly, as if she’s reading it to herself.

And Tifa had wanted nothing more than to kiss her. _Shit no. Bad thoughts._

She was in the middle of pouring Flower Girl her refill of coffee when she felt a finger tracing the band-aid on her wrist. Tifa’s hand stilled.

“Did you hurt yourself?” Soft voice fills her ears.

“Do you usually make a habit of touching strangers?” The words slipped past her mouth before she could stop herself.

“Nope.” Flower Girl didn’t missed a beat, popping the _p_ , lashes fluttering as she looks up at her. “Only the pretty ones.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere. What if I don’t like being touched without permission?” Tifa challenges, but not without a playful tilt in her tone.

“Hmm. But you’re not pulling away.” As if to prove her point, she ghosted a pointed nail across her inner wrist. Tifa shivered, a blush spreading to color her pale cheeks.

“I could ban you here.” That’s a lie. They haven’t done that before. But she considered it once for that guy who just won’t let up. She vaguely remembers his name. Johnny, was it?

Flower Girl marks her book, shutting it with a dull flop as she leans back in her seat, her green eyes exuberantly bright in the dim lights of the diner. “That’s a shame. I’ve grown really fond of the coffee and the free Taylor Swift concert from the kitchen.”

Tifa snorts, before gesturing to the seat across her. “Your boyfriend not with you today?”

Flower Girl tilts her head, confusion etching her face and when recognition settled in those green eyes, she scrunched her nose. “ _Zack?_ God, no. We’re not dating. He’s my bestfriend.”

Oh so Drunk Guy has a name now. And they’re not dating. Cloud would be thrilled.

“How’s Zack?” Tifa asks instead, trying the roll of his name on her tongue.

“Fine. Probably asleep by now. I try not to babysit him from time to time.”

“So you came alone.” Tifa drawls, “In his favorite shop.”

“Maybe I came for a reason.”

“Such as?”

“The hot snarky waitress.”

Tifa rolled her eyes, but she was full on blushing now. “I told you flattery will get you nowhere.”

“Oh, but it’s so worth the blush on your cheeks right now.”

A retort was on the tip of her tongue, but then she hears Jessie dinging that goddamn bell again and they’re all looking at her with an all too knowing smirk on their faces.

“I gotta head back.” Tifa stalled, biting her lip as she considered her next words. “I get my breaks at three.” And then she was swiveling before she could get an answer.

\---

Tifa threw on a sweater over her uniform before slipping out the backdoor. It was almost past three when she finally got her break. She was leaning against the bricked wall when she sees her and Tifa had to suppresed to _fist pump_ the air. She was almost sure the girl wouldn’t come but when she makes out the familiar figure emerging from the dark, she pushed off the wall and smiled to herself.

But then she was being pushed back and suddenly, hot lips were on her and Tifa had to drop the coffee cup in her grip as she grapples for the girl’s hips. The girl’s arm almost immediately snaked around her neck and the rough wall was kind of digging painfully through her back as the girl leaned her whole weight against Tifa’s own warmth and _oh God,_ they’re making out in a dark alley, with dumpsters and all. It was such a bad cliché and it was the least romantic place they could choose to do this but Tifa couldn’t find it in herself to care. Especially not when the girl was tugging her bottom lip between her teeth. Tifa groaned, as her hand starts to wander, and it was an accident really, when she slid her palms up and it slips past her blouse and _oh_ she’s suddenly meeting bare skin. Flower Girl gasped when cold hands met hot skin and Tifa takes that opportunity to slip a tongue. Her hand was skidding higher, and _higher_ and when fingers met bra, Flower Girl was breaking the kiss. _They’re stopping. Why are they stopping?_

Slightly out of breath, hazy scarlet gaze meets emerald ones, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” She breathes out as she licks her swollen lips. “It’s just that I’m basically letting you pass second base and I don’t even know your name.”

It was like a sudden jolt of electricity shot through her arm. Right. Her name. They have their designated nameplates along with their uniforms but of course Tifa never wore it (she liked to keep her anonymity, especially from creeps like Johnny, thank you very much) Tifa blushed furiously preparing to yank her hand out of the girl’s shirt before a hand stopped her.

“I don’t mind.” Flower Girl tells her, chuckling airily. “I’m Aerith.”

“Tifa.” She answers and starts tracing feather-light kisses along her jaw, “Aerith, do you want to go on a date with me?”

Aerith was giggling, “I think we’ve already skipped a few steps here, Tifa.”

Tifa pulled back slightly, “So no?”

“Silly. Of course I would love to go on a date with you.”

And then no more words were said because Aerith was crashing their lips again and Tifa was kissing back just as fiercely.

**Author's Note:**

> i can't believe i haven't written anything in two years but in comes aerti and it's like words and ideas just started piling out. i have at least two aus i've been working on for these two but i'm like stuck so this came up. shrug. i really had fun playing with jessie and tifa's relationship here!! i'm such a tifa/jessie brotp enthusiast.


End file.
